Bharti Airtel, a leading Indian telecom operator, looks at 5G FWA (Fixed Wireless Access) or AirFiber as a use case of 5G that can definitely be monetised heavily in the future. The telco believes in the underlying potential and the problem that FWA or AirFiber solves for customers and the telcos.
Randeep Sekhon, Bharti Airtel's CTO, at an industry event, said that 5G FWA is a use case that will definitely get monetised. According to an ET reoport, he said that since it is hard to deploy fiber everywhere as it has money and time constraints, AirFiber has become a great alternative solution to fulfil connectivity needs for customers.
Sekhon said that the technology is maturing and the cost of an AirFiber connection is coming down. With time that cost would come down further as a higher scale is achieved by the telco. Sekhon also mentioned that the cost of a home pass associated with AirFiber is now comparable to the cost of a home pass in the FTTH (fiber-to-the-home), which means that operators won't shy away from deploying AirFiber in large numbers now.
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Airtel Announced New AirFiber Plans
Much recently, Bharti Airtel announced new Xstream AirFiber plans. These plans cost Rs 799 and Rs 999 per month. Both offer an identical internet speed of 100 Mbps with 1TB of data. However, the additional entertainment benefits bundled with both plans are different.
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The Rs 799 plan only comes with Airtel Xstream Play while the Rs 999 plan comes with access to Disney+ Hotstar, Xstream Play and Live TV channels. The service is currently available in four cities of the country - Noida, Ghaziabad, Faridabad, and Delhi. Users opting a 12-months plan will get the AirFiber connection installation fee of Rs 1000 waived off.
